Bruce Dias 
Role-playing games have evolved in fascinating ways. They tend to value similar aspects of life as the overall consumer, suggesting alignment in core values and priorities. It’s not difficult to find RPG games where you can build your own house, cook great dishes, raise pets, and even buy stylish clothes.
According to data from Statista, 34% of RPG gamers are innovators or early adopters of new products, showcasing their openness to new technologies and trends. They also demonstrate awareness of environmental issues, with a relatively high share of believing that climate change needs to be addressed. Moreover, industry professionals should remember that RPG gamers are more likely to recall seeing ads in video games, making them a valuable audience for targeted marketing campaigns.
What Changed in RPGs in 2024?
Great MMORPGs are rooted in flawless storytelling, with iconic titles like World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Guild Wars, and Diablo standing out as prime examples. These games have been meticulously crafted over the years, continually adapting their narratives to captivate new audiences and refining the mechanics that have been successful since the franchises’ early days. However, fans of this genre know that building a character and farming it to the maximum level requires a significant time investment.
Many people nowadays find they cannot afford to dedicate such time to these games. According to a study by KTO, players now tend to adopt a moderate and responsible approach to online playing, spending little time per session. Throughout the year, this is expressed in 61% of casual playing (nearly once a month). With such limited timing, players tend to gravitate towards different, more time-efficient genres that have become increasingly popular, especially games that revolve around character development.
Among these types of games, there are the new mobile RPGs. They have lots of high-level characters and builds, but a great part of them have the auto-farm option, which leaves your character farming while you are AFK. Mir4 is a great example of this mechanic, in which you can level up and farm black steel for your weapons even when you sleep. Although they are called mobile RPGs, they are highly played among PC gamers as well. Here are the most popular 2024 RPGs with auto-play mechanics and fast grinding for busy gamers!
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact from Hoyoverse is one of the most popular mobile RPGs, if not the most. Its popularity can be attributed to its high-quality graphics, engaging storyline, and expansive world that encourages exploration and discovery. The reward factor of getting 5-star champions as you progress in the game is also enticing for active players who want to show their potential.
The game employs a gacha system for obtaining new characters and weapons, which has proven to be both a lucrative and engaging mechanic for players. Frequent updates and events keep the content fresh and exciting, fostering a strong, active community. Additionally, its availability on multiple platforms, including PC, mobile, and consoles, has made it accessible to a wide audience, contributing to its widespread appeal.
Mir4
Mir4 had a recent fever when released as a “free to play” crypto game. The RPG can be played on multiple platforms and has a very strong auto-play mechanism. You could level up your character, build items, and farm dark steel for hours, even AFK. The dark steel, which was farmed in Mir4’s dungeons, was then exchanged for its cryptocurrency, the Draco, which got up to $14!
Even though the game is not as popular as before, new classes and updates are still being released, and you can join guilds and participate in wars weekly. However, the game is not friendly for free players anymore, as you have to spend money and dark steel to be able to upgrade your character’s power or buy a farmed character.
Tower of Fantasy
Tower of Fantasy offers a captivating open-world experience similar to Genshin Impact. The game’s fast-paced combat system seamlessly integrates with exploration and questing, providing a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience. Players can create highly customizable, anime-inspired characters using an extensive editor, allowing for a personalized touch. The vast universe of the Tower of Fantasy is filled with surprises, adversaries, and unique locations to discover.
As an action role-playing game (ARPG), it features dynamic combat and fluid animations. Powerful attacks and intricate combos are easily executed with intuitive on-screen action buttons. Perfect if you like stunning visual battles with low-difficulty execution!
Ragnarok Origins
Ragnarok needs no introduction. The game has been a success since the beginning with its class mechanism and character development. However, in this auto-play version, you can click missions to perform them automatically or at farm levels after choosing a designated class. The nicest thing about this mechanic is that, unlike other games, you can choose which monsters you want to combat as you are farming AFK, avoiding high-level monsters that may take you to base and optimizing time!
Honkai Star Rail
Another game from Hoyoverse, Honkai Star Rail, brings characters well-known for players of Honkai Impact and others based on designs from Genshin. The game mixes autoplay with novel-like stories and a turn-based combat system. Just like in Genshin, you get new banners with 5-star characters frequently as the story is updated, and you have great chances of getting nice characters without needing to spend real money. The game offers many prizes and events, and it’s perfect if you want to invest time but don’t want to level up constantly.
Although most of these games keep the RPG feeling, they are mostly fast-paced and reward focused. Which is great for modern players as they are adept at navigating games and increasingly prefer mobile experiences. Having these games available for PC is also a game-changer, since they leave it in auto-farm in the second plan as they do a main task or focus on studying or working, for example.
The reward mechanism present in each of these games is what most engages users, as they feel they are winning just for logging in. It’s similar to the casino experience, where playing is an opportunity of winning a big prize of loot, weapons and rare characters. However, just as casinos, these features should be approached with responsibility, knowing that the expense is the least important part in these games.
